Explosion at alleged Stroud Township meth lab lands woman in prison

A 33-year-old Stroudsburg woman was sentenced Thursday to 19 to 60 months in state prison in connection with the January 2012 explosion of an alleged methamphetamine lab in the basement of her mother's Stroud Township home.

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By ANDREW SCOTT

poconorecord.com

By ANDREW SCOTT

Posted May. 24, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By ANDREW SCOTT

Posted May. 24, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

A 33-year-old Stroudsburg woman was sentenced Thursday to 19 to 60 months in state prison in connection with the January 2012 explosion of an alleged methamphetamine lab in the basement of her mother's Stroud Township home.

Rachel Lee Wasniewski had pleaded guilty to the felony crime of risking a catastrophe.

"I apologize for my actions," Wasniewski said prior to being sentenced, as her mother and another supporter sat listening. "I made poor choices in friends. I know I have a history, but I've been trying to change my life."

Wasniewski requested a less severe sentence, such as probation or county jail as opposed to state prison, so that she could help care for her ailing 84-year-old grandmother.

Monroe County Court Judge Art Zulick found Wasniewski's prior history of drug use and probation/parole violations, along with her fleeing the jurisdiction after the explosion, to be aggravating factors warranting the sentence imposed.

"Your problems seem to stem from this drug you're addicted to," Zulick said. "It's going to kill you. It's a good thing no one was hurt in the explosion at your mother's home. We're going to put you in a place where you have no access to this drug."

Wasniewski expressed surprise at the sentence, thinking it was "only going to be a couple of months."

As county sheriff's deputies handcuffed her, she requested the judge let her say goodbye to her grandmother before sending her off to serve her sentence.

"No, this is sentencing day," Zulick said. "You owe a debt to society."

A tearful Wasniewski then told her mother, "Bye, Mom," as she was escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs.

A state police fire marshal testified at Wasniewski's February 2012 preliminary hearing to finding a gallon can of stove-and-lantern fuel and cut-off battery lithium strips, all of which are used in making meth, in the basement of her mother's Lupine Avenue home shortly after the explosion.

According to other testimony, Wasniewski fled the home in her mother's vehicle after the explosion and was later arrested in Maryland.

Wasniewski was charged in a December incident where Stroud Area Regional Police were called to the same residence and again found items used in making methamphetamine. Police said a 14-year-old who showed them these items reported Wasniewski had asked the teen to join her in smoking marijuana, and that Wasniewski had been sneaking into the house despite her mother forbidding her from returning.